RADIO
In a lot of ways, Thursday's slate can be broken down in two pretty simple ways. The first is to play Chris Sale and fill in with bargain bin hitters. On the other side of the spectrum, stacking Rockies hitters against Matt Moore is an obvious play, but impossible to pull off without paying down at pitcher and risking missing out on a Chris Sale gem. Of course, there are plenty of options in between, and many of those options will be the focus of this article.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel on 6/15/17. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options, and of course, value plays.
You can read our DraftKings DFS lineup picks as well. If you want to contact me, send me a message on Twitter at @danmarcus3.
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Offensive Stacks
Minnesota Twins vs. Ariel Miranda
Miranda has fine looking season long numbers but those have been padded heavily by his work at home. On the road, Miranda has just a 7% K-BB% and has allowed 2.27 HR/9. Meanwhile, the Twins have plenty of batters capable of mashing left-handed pitching, most notable of which are Miguel Sano, Brian Dozier, Eduardo Escobar, and Robbie Grossman. Add in that this is one of the warmest days on the slate and the 10.5 Vegas total and the Twins could prove to be a nice under the radar stack on Thursday.
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Jordan Montgomery - P, @ OAK ($7,500)
Unsurprisingly, Jordan Montgomery has given up fewer runs on the road than at home, and Thursday he gets to start in one of the more spacious parks in baseball. It is a bit concerning that his strikeout rate is greatly decreased on the road, however, the matchup alleviates concerns as the A’s have the fourth highest strikeout rate as a team against left-handed pitching. Their wRC+ and ISO are both middle of the pack against lefties, which doesn't make this matchup quite as comfortable as it look at first glance. Still, Montgomery is a nice alternative to the obvious play of the night in Chris Sale. While it would be foolish to sit Chris Sale in cash games, Montgomery is a viable tournament pivot.
FanDuel DFS Infielders
Salvador Perez - C, @LAA ($3,400)
Perez has been a great option at catcher all season. He doesn’t have the platoon advantage going up against Ricky Nolasco on Thursday, but fortunately, he doesn’t need one as Nolasco has surrendered 3.06 HR/9 (that's not a typo!) to right-handed hitters this season. That makes him a nice option to pay down from the elites of Buster Posey and Gary Sanchez without sacrificing a ton of potential for production.
Matt Davidson - 1B, BAL ($2,600)
Davidson could get found out very quickly, but for now he continues to produce. Against righties, he has been able to hit the ball hard, pull the ball, and hit the ball in the air. That’s a recipe for home runs, extra bases, and fantasy production. Meanwhile, Chris Tillman hasn’t been tough to opposing right-handed batters as is indicated by his 5.19 xFIP against them this season. This game has the third highest total of the entire slate and Davidson is a sneaky way to get exposure to it.
Robinson Cano - 2B, @ MIN ($3,100)
Admittedly, Cano has been struggling to hit for power of late as he has just two extra-base hits since the beginning of June. However, he has been able to get on base and is limiting his soft contact. Tomorrow is a good day to bet on a bounceback from Cano due to his price, matchup, and the weather in Minnesota. As for price, Cano is way down the list of second baseman and at $3,100, his ceiling well outpaces his cost. Jose Berrios will likely be the chalky pick of pitchers in the afternoon slate, but he is due for regression against lefties as indicated by his 5.33 xFIP against them. Finally, the weather in Minnesota is projected to be one of the warmest days on the slate with wind blowing straight out to center at 13 miles per hour, perfect conditions for runs.
Trevor Story - SS, SF ($4,000)
Trevor Story has yet to hit his stride this season but he has the benefit of facing a lefty on Thursday. While he has a disappointing .711 OPS for the season, Story has still managed to smash left-handed pitchers to the tune of a .971 OPS and has half of his home runs against them despite many fewer plate appearances than against right-handed pitching. The matchup just keeps better for him as well, as Matt Moore has been atrocious no matter who he’s faced when pitching on the road. At Coors, that certainly should translate to plenty of runs for the Rockies and Story should have a big role in that.
Justin Turner - 3B, vs. @CLE ($3,500)
Turner has been getting on base at a tremendous clip this season but has failed to hit for much power. That has changed somewhat since his return from the disabled list nearly a week ago as he hit his second home run of the season following his return and followed that up with a double on Wednesday night. That’s not exactly a power surge but is a step in the right direction. The matchup also suits Turner as Josh Tomlin pitches to contact, feeding right into Turner’s strengths. At worst, Turner should be able to collect a couple hits, but he also possesses a nice ceiling if he can continue to regain his power stroke.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Colby Rasmus - OF, @ DET ($3,400)
Rasmus has been a very pleasant surprise since making his season debut in May as he has an .888 OPS against right-handed pitching on the season. Meanwhile, Justin Verlander is still being priced as an ace but that shouldn’t trick anyone into thinking he is still pitching like one. Even more deceiving than his price is his 2.10 ERA at home this season, which covers up a 5.54 xFIP and nearly 40% hard contact rate.
Dexter Fowler - OF vs. MIL ($3,100)
Fowler has several factors in his favor on Thursday’s slate. First, he has been a substantially better hitter both at home and against right-handed pitching this season and both of those conditions will be in play on Thursday. Additionally, the Cardinals bats have heated up in the warm weather of their home park this series. Tomorrow will once again be a warm day in St. Louis and is the warmest game on the slate. Batted balls should be flying around tomorrow and with Fowler still batting near the top of the Cardinals’ lineup, he should be in a position to take advantage of that.
Ian Desmond - OF vs. SF ($3,900)
Desmond has been disappointing this season but he has shown signs of life of late, posting a few extra base hits and multi-hit games over the past week. Now, he and the Rockies will be heading home to face a pitcher who has been miserable on the road in Matt Moore.
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